House-door letter-box



- 2Sheets-Sheet 1 O. W. NBWGOMB. HOUSE DOOR LETTER BOX.

Patented Apr. 19, 1892.

' (No Model.)

7 L E {5% Z 3 l: A V :5: My? J Q (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sh'eet 2.

0 W NBWUOMB HOUSE DOOR LETTER BOX.

No. 473,334. Patented Apr. 19, 1892.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

I OBADIAH V. NEVVCOMB, OF XVELDA, KANSAS.

HOUSE-DOOR LETTER-BOX.

$PECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 473,334, dated April 19, 1892.

Application filed July 20,1891.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, OBADIAH W. NEwooMB, of VVelda, in the county of Anderson and State of Kansas, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Letter-Boxes, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification and accompanying drawings, in which Figure I is a perspective view of my improved letter-box when closed and attached to the inner side of a door; Fig. II, the same view, showing the box in open position; Fig. III, a horizontal section; Fig. IV, a detail of the locking apparatus, and Fig.Van exterior View of a door provided with my improved device. Fig. VI is a detail View of the under side, showing the operative parts as in position when the box is being opened.

My invention relates to improvements in letter-boxes of the class specially designed 'for street-doors; and its object is to provide a simple, safe, and convenient device for the reception of mail and other similar matter, combined with an appropriate alarm-bell, whereby each delivery of mail and also the subsequent closing and locking of the box are automatically announced.

The invention may be utilized in a variety of ways, as described in the following specificatlon and accompanying drawings, in which A designates the letter-box, one side of which is curved, so that when withdrawn by the knob a it may swing open laterallywithin its seat in the door a. The exterior end of the box is preferably made in the form of an esc utcheon or name-plate B, provided with a suitable border or frame, which effectually covers any blemish caused by cutting the openlng through the door. A yoke 12 is attached to the inner side of the door and supports a rotatable and vertically-adjustable bar 19, carrying a horizontal arm b, which when in engagement with the slot 0 operates as a lock. Ordinarily the box is prepared for the reception of mail or similar matter by raising the arm out of the retaining-slot O and inserting it in a cavity a, so that the box may be opened by mail-carriers. The act of opening the box causes a stud c to strike the trippet c" and release the arm I)", which falls Serial No. 400,146. (No model.)

into its normal position. The closing movement of the box lifts the arm by means of the inclined plane D. The arm then reengages the slot 0 and the box is automatically locked. Mails may be received during the temporary absence of the occupants of a hou e by turning the locking apparatus out of engagement with the box, as shown in 4, and allowing it to remain unlocked as long as desired. When used in this manner all letters and papers may be thrust through the opening in the inner end of the box, so that they may fall into a receptacle beneath or on the fioor, so that they cannot be reached by parties outside of the door. The alarmbell cl is suspended upon a bent arm, which is fastened to the inner side of the door. The clapper is attached to a lever 61', provided with a re= tractile spring (1'', a fulcrum E, and an arm e, which oscillates to a limited extent and operates as a double-acting cam designed to engage a stud e", which projects from the bottom of the box, and as the stud e engages the free end of the cam or arm 6 the latter, while it has a limited movement upon its pivot, will by its engagement with a stud or projection fon the lever d actuate the hammer in effecting the ringing of the bell. By this means both the opening and closing movements of the box are announced by the bell.

, WVhat I claim as new is 1. The letter-box adapted to be applied to a door and having a slot in a top corner edge thereof, in combination with the verticallyadjustable sliding bar having an arm adapted to engage said slot and also a separate slot in the door when disengaged from the aforesaid slot and having a second short arm or trippet 0 adapted to be engaged by a stud c on the inner end of said letter-box as the box is closed, substantially as set forth.

2. The letter-box adapted to be applied to v a door and having a slot in a top corner edge thereof and an inclined plane D at the entrance to said slot, in combination with the vertically adjustable sliding bar suitably supported in a bracket or yoke on the door and having at one end a trippet or short arm 0 and farther up thereon an arm 19 one arm adapted to separately engage said slot and a slot in the door andythe other arm adapted tobe engaged by a stud on the inner end of said letter-box, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The letter-box adapted to be applied to a door and having a slot in a top corner edge thereof and an inclined plane D atthe entrance to said slot, in combination with the vertically-adjustable sliding bar having a short arm or trippet atone end and farther up thereon a long arm adapted to separately engage said slot and a slot in the door, and the gong w th its spring-retracted hammer provided with an oscillating arm adapted to be en- OBADIAH \V. NEWCOMB.

lVitn esses:

WILLIAM PAUL, J. W. HARRISON. 

